House passes smoking ban outside state buildings

Smokers that smoke within 25 feet of a state office building would be violating the law, under a bill that passed the Louisiana House Wednesday.

House Bill 168 by state Rep. Frank Hoffman, R-West Monroe, would impose the smoking ban outside any building owned by the state which are used primarily as office buildings.

The ban would encompass lighted cigars, cigarettes, pipes and any other smoking equipment.

The bill would extend the state’s current requirement under the La. Smokefree Air Act that “no smoking” signs or the widely-recognized “no smoking” symbol be conspicuously posted in places where smoking is prohibited.

That part of the bill drew the ire of state Rep. John Schroder, R-Covington, who seized on an estimate that putting up new “no smoking” signs will cost the state $200 for each location.